Hello there. I am trying to jump back on the wagon after about 2 years of non compliance with my Surgeons mandatory South Beach Diet. Or any diet.

Having eaten as a non dieter for so long, what portions should I start with? I mean, other than common sense. I'm morbidly obese, 300#'s, 5'4". Is it advisable to try to go back on post surgery portions? I would think doing that would be inadvisable given that I spent 2 years eating at whim. But I really don't know. I've read that that would be too taxing on the system and not doable for long term. Again, I don't know.

I'm doing this on my own because I have yet to repair some "tensions", in nice words, with my Surgeon and his staff. He had some awful things to say about my mental health issues, PTSD among them, as they related to compliance, and I couldn't/can't get past that. I'm working on it very hard in therapy as I'd like to eventually go back and continue with professional care.

Maybe doing a pouch reset? I've only seen mention of it and don't know the exact steps for it. Then when you finish that start some kind of structured diet plan. Planning to me is the key to eating what I'm supposed to eat and not whatever I find in the pantry at the last minute. Good luck!

It seems like you'd be able to go back to post-op diet plan to reset your pouch. Make sure you're getting 60 oz of protein each day, water intake of at least 64 oz each day, calories under 1000.

I don't know that you'd have to go completely back to the beginning (i.e., liquid diet, pureed diet, etc), but go back to eating protein first, then non-starchy veggies, and then, if you have room, a small serving of fruit or whole grain carbs.

I'm thinking it might be too drastic to suddenly drop your calories to sub-1000, which would set some people up for a binge. Maybe try to figure out what your current calorie intake level is, and then lower it gradually (by maybe 100-200 calories per day) every week or two until you get to the level where your weight starts to drop off again.

10 hours ago, Heidihoo said:

Hello there. I am trying to jump back on the wagon after about 2 years of non compliance with my Surgeons mandatory South Beach Diet. Or any diet.

Having eaten as a non dieter for so long, what portions should I start with? I mean, other than common sense. I'm morbidly obese, 300#'s, 5'4". Is it advisable to try to go back on post surgery portions? I would think doing that would be inadvisable given that I spent 2 years eating at whim. But I really don't know. I've read that that would be too taxing on the system and not doable for long term. Again, I don't know.

I'm doing this on my own because I have yet to repair some "tensions", in nice words, with my Surgeon and his staff. He had some awful things to say about my mental health issues, PTSD among them, as they related to compliance, and I couldn't/can't get past that. I'm working on it very hard in therapy as I'd like to eventually go back and continue with professional care.

Perhaps try

structured eating first (set meal times)

then find a diet style you like (wholefoods, vegan, Mediterranean, keto, etc)

then one by one substitute out low quality foods for higher ones (milk chocolate for dark, reg. icecream for halotop, rice for riced cauliflower, sugar for a zero cal sub, etc) until you can fully convert back to where the practice wants you to be.

Good luck ?

@Heidihoo how is it going? I find just getting back to mindful behaviors - no eating anywhere but the kitchen table, no random snacking, etc is a good starting point. I am glad you are in therapy.

You might check out Peter Michaelson https://whywesuffer.com/exposing-the-roots-of-emotional-suffering/

It might help in between sessions. He has some great insights into how to overcome our 'stuck selves', it's very intense. Good luck.

Wow, I'm excited to read ALL of it! That's my kinda stuff! Thank you soooo much Sosewsue61! Much love ??????

7 hours ago, Sosewsue61 said:

@Heidihoo how is it going? I find just getting back to mindful behaviors - no eating anywhere but the kitchen table, no random snacking, etc is a good starting point. I am glad you are in therapy.

You might check out Peter Michaelson https://whywesuffer.com/exposing-the-roots-of-emotional-suffering/

It might help in between sessions. He has some great insights into how to overcome our 'stuck selves', it's very intense. Good luck.